Simple legal weddings, in a home, condo, or AirBnB!

AirBnB penthouse

It's cold this month!  So we found a number of solutions to simple legal weddings.  Here are we are in an Air BnB penthouse and below in an apartment of a friend. In both these weddings, parents attended by Skype!  We have lately also used the games room of a condo, some hotel rooms (find deals on Groupon!), and a couple of condo party rooms.

Friend's apartment

Riverdale park wedding and a serenade

Here's a magic wedding - just the family, under a tree in Riverdale (no baseball game in session), and another stump to sign all the papers.  But then the parents surprised the couple with a song - and all the small gifts mentioned in the lyrics.  I was wondering what the guitar was for - and then we all got a wonderful surprise.

After the wedding, everyone happy

Family serenade for the new couple (singing the verses and presenting a tiny gift)

Lovely wedding at La Maquette Patio

La Maquette 

Here are a couple of teachers - funny and committed, to teaching, and to each other.  Their wedding was wonderful, and the ceremony was held in the outdoor patio at La Maquette.  Here they are exchanging their personal vows - and smiling all the way.  Great pictures by Agnes Wyrot, at Northern Wildflower

Snowy outside, tropical inside: Allan Gardens wedding

Allan gardens

This happened at noon on a Monday in February - squirrels and turtles and carp inside (and it was toasty and lovely in the cactus garden) and the groom in a kilt and the bride in lovely short sleeves were nice and warm.  Allan Gardens can be very crowded on the weekends, and it closes at 5, and you really can't have more than about 15-20 people, but if that suits your needs, it's a great option. You must BOOK it through the city Parks Department, and bring the printed booking receipt with you for the guards. Contact me for details.

NO POP-UP WEDDINGS PERMITTED.

Allan Gardens February

Living room elopement - three decades later

apartment elopement

This amazing couple have been together over 30 years.  We had a wonderful wedding in my living room, and a few tears popped up - but mostly we were very cheerful indeed! 

A "Rush" tribute wedding at Queen's Park

Queens Park Souvenir!

This lovely couple were RUSH fans, and so they wanted to be married on 12/21 in front of Queen's Park.  If you know RUSH, you know what this means.
Of course Queen's Park won't LET YOU DO THIS.
But we found the little parkette by the Physics building down on College,  and we held the wedding where we could SEE Queen's Park behind us!  Clever!  And then we sneakily went up to Queen's Park Circle and took some photos anyway.  The guard was a bit huffy, but we distracted him enough to get a photo!

RUSH wedding Dec 21

Cosy Winter Elopement, an anniversary, and Dutch Comfort Food

We had a number of nice winter elopements this year, in parks, in hotels, in apartments, and other fun locations, including the CN Tower & Ripley's Aquarium. [Note: please see this POST on pop-up weddings at landmarks like Museums and tourist spaces. Most places will NOT allow this, as they have lots of annoyed guards on close-circuit cameras.  The wedding at Ripley's was in the Party room, with booking permission - and then museums passes for all!]

Solstice Wedding 

This little winter solstice wedding took place in my own flat, in front of the fireplace, with just the Bride's family here in town, and the Groom's family skyping in from Sweden.  We had a LOVELY time, as it was also my own 50th wedding anniversary!
The couple went to lunch in Yorkville with their family, and then to to the Kensington Solstice Parade.  We went to St Lawrence Market to buy oysters and prosecco.

My family ALSO took us to our anniversary lunch at a new Danforth restaurant, BorrelTo.  (I actually married the owners, over on Ward's Island, AND I discovered I had also conducted the wedding of the cook's auntie!) and then we ate up the entire menu of Dutch Comfort Food.  They've never had a wedding there, but they COULD close up for a small private event - the beers are fabulous, and the food is perfect for a cocktail reception.

And now here we are, 50 years ago and now, still laughing together at Borrel.

Dec 21, 1967 - a bit of emotion

Dec 23, 2017 - still talking!

Wedding at short notice - delightful midday ceremony

This great couple were working out plane tickets and witnesses, and a license - and a location - all in a short space of time.  It all came together, with wedding outfits and delighted friends and a luckily available room at the University Multifaith Centre,  and a beautiful sunny winter morning.

Winter weddings can be bright and tinkly!

winter ice storm wedding!

You can never plan on the weather! The wedding party entered in parkas from the side door, and managed this great pix in the ice storm. But all was warm and cosy inside, and you just have to build in some time for late arrivals, delayed transit and such.     

Garden wedding in gold

This was an absolutely delightful wedding at Rosetta McClain, in the beaches.  The couple had some traditional ceremonies as part of their wedding, including a Yoruba "tasting the elements" ritual, which brought much joyous approval, and a crowning ceremony.  A thoroughly wonderful morning.

Rosetta McClain Garden

Romantic proposal and wedding on University of Toronto campus

Short version:  the bench-where-the-proposal-was-accepted was duly labelled so by the groom.  We re-united here, with 2 witnesses, and had a short legal wedding, before the couple had their family celebration at the end of the week.
(then they went back to work at the University. I hope they have a working lunch together on the bench occasionally!)
It's tricky to have little weddings on campus, as security staff will usually stop you - but this was a lucky exception, as it was early in the morning at the end of summer term, and nobody noticed us, hiding away. In fact, most of the campus was locked up, so the staff could have a holiday.  But we had the romantic story & the bench to show, just in case.  

the proposal bench (it says: "She said yes")

Newly Married couple (and the bench!)

(again, don't try eloping on campus without permission. The job of the security guards is to stop you.  Please ask for advice, here's an enquiry FORM)

Riverdale Park - baseball and a wedding in the setting sun

Due to a broken scooter and a few snaggles, we didn't get to the wedding till the 7th inning (game going on down below), but we had enough sun for a lovely sunset wedding.   The team congratulated the couple warmly!

Riverdale Park wedding - CN tower view 

Riverdale Park wedding at dusk

Trinity Bellwoods elopement - in the north end, tucked in a small grove

Because sometimes you have to avoid the frisbee games, the jogging mommies, and the dogs - but it's a big park, and there is peace on a sunny afternoon 

Trinity Bellwoods Summer Wedding

Comment: and here is the eclipse!  I was wandering around Trinity Bellwoods a few weeks later, handing out safety glasses, and met a couple I married 3 years ago!  ah, Toronto....

Clubs and halls and stages - Tranzac Club wedding

We have had some lovely weddings in 'club' or 'performance' spaces - they come ready-made with stages, chairs, bars, sound people, lighting & mikes, etc.  We've used movie theatres, real theatres, club bars, ballrooms, and last month another wedding at the Tranzac Club @ Bloor/Brunswick.  Entirely wonderful.

Summer Wedding @ Tranzac Club

Downtown Patio Wedding - simple and sunny family wedding

We're actually on Baldwin Street, on the 2nd floor patio, with all of Toronto summer life passing beneath us, and "Despacito" playing from next door.  A short ceremony, some Veuve, and voila! A lovely afternoon. 

More millennial couples are opting to elope | Toronto Star

More millennial couples are opting to elope | Toronto Star
Well, this was funny. The Star called to ask me about eloping - so I sent them a zillion pages of notes - but they ended up with a just a snippet of text about Toronto, and not much info.  I did offer them some LOVELY stories about creative elopements,

 (today we took a limo + parents down to Polson Pier, where the couple met at the Night Market - voila!  Great time, great view!)

Polson Pier, morning elopement (before the nightclub pool rocks out)

What I wanted the Star to say was that 'eloping' is a historical term for a private wedding - and there are many reasons for a quiet legal wedding, from 'Romantic' to 'Practical'. Sometimes an elopement replaces a Big Fat Wedding, and sometimes it's a practical step before a fancy "destination" wedding.  But generally, it just means small and friendly.

Anyway, here is an article on Eloping in Jane Austen's day :

"The Marriage Act of 1753 made it increasingly difficult for upper class men to “marry down,” and for women to marry men outside their rank. To get around this law, a desperate couple could obtain a special license from the Archbishop of Canterbury, or elope to Gretna Green in Scotland, where English law held no sway and marriage at 16 was legal...

Over the years many couples would run away to Gretna Green for their marriages to take place. The ceremonies were usually performed by one of the village blacksmiths who in those days were at the heart of the community and held in suitable regard. Even today, many of the Ministers refer, in their services, to the similarity of a blacksmith joining 2 metals over the anvil to the marriage ceremony joining 2 people as one.

Little Toronto outdoor elopement in a 'secret garden' - in plain sight!

Of course it has been raining a lot this year - so we've had to be creative about outdoor elopements. Often, we have two or three ideas, and wait to see what the weather will do.  (It's important to have at least ONE backup location with a roof, though, or an indoor spot in reserve). This fun couple from the USA was at a downtown hotel, but the skies cleared and we slipped into Osgoode Hall as they were closing for the day (the grounds stay open).
Here's a little corner of greenery in the middle of Toronto, with a view of 2 city halls, old and new! 

Library Elopement for literary couples

This is actually a HOME library, but delightful, because it's only one floor of the thousands of books in the collection of a literature professor at UofT. This was a wonderful home elopement of a couple who had just a few close friends and family to their simple wedding.  Some of my colleagues from the writing world turned up too, which was a wonderful surprise for all of us. Book people keep bumping into each other, somehow...

I have held weddings in other libraries, including Robarts, and the actual library stacks at the Faculty of Information Studies, as well as many bookstores.  We had a couple of lovely weddings in the Library at the Grange (Art Gallery of Ontario), which will host a small elopement/family wedding and cater you a wonderful reception or historic afternoon tea.   Yay books.